The Supreme Court ruled 5–4 in a fractured opinion on Feb. 28 that the IRS imposed an excessive fine on a businessman for failing to report foreign bank accounts, reducing the financial penalty from $2.72 million to $50,000.
The decision came after the U.S. House of Representatives, now controlled by Republicans, voted in January to repeal a congressional provision allotting almost $80 billion to the IRS over the coming 10 years for increased enforcement.
Democrats say the IRS has long been underfunded, but Republicans say the extra money will be used to harass taxpayers. Only 4 percent of the additional funding will be devoted to improving taxpayer service, while 58 percent will go to escalating enforcement efforts, the New York Post reported in August 2022….